Evolution of a Friendship
by IceCreamAndPizza
Summary: While helping Misty through some tough times, Ash tries to figure out exactly what his relationship with her is.
1. Misty's Date

MISTY: 22

ASH: 21

As I finished putting the last minute touches to my makeup, I heard the door to my apartment open and then close. Had he really forgotten that I had plans tonight? Sometimes he could be so dense. Setting my makeup brush back on the counter, I sighed before heading downstairs to confront my forgetful friend.

I found him sitting on the couch, sipping a can of soda and eating chips, having already made himself comfortable in front of my T.V. Was it really that hard for him to just ask for a drink every now and then?

"What are you doing here, Ash?" I asked him, my hands on my hips. "You knew I had very important plans tonight?"

Instead of fighting back with some clever retort of his, he dropped the chips and spit the soda he was drinking out of his mouth. "Misty! You're...you're," he stuttered.

"I'm what?" I snapped, glaring at him.

"You're a girl," he stated.

I can't believe he had just said that. He really could be so rude and insensitive sometimes. He didn't say anything else, though, instead continuing to stare at me. Starting back at him, I followed his eyes as they traveled up and down my body, making me suddenly feel self-conscious about myself. What was he staring at? He never looked at me like that before. What was wrong with him?

"Ash!" I snapped, catching his attention. "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing, he quickly answered, flicking his eyes away. "Where are you going?"

"I have my date with Andrew," I reminded him. "He should be here any minute."

"Oh. That's right." He looked at the ground for a second, but I still caught it. Was he actually sad that I was leaving? Or was it because I was going on a date with Andrew?  
>"Yeah. So don't mess this up," I told him. "It's really important to me."<p>

He just nodded, grabbing a few napkins to clean up the soda he had spilled. For once he seemed to be deep in thought, staring blankly into space. What was wrong with him? I had never seen him act this way before. He would normally be making fun of the fact that I was wearing a dress, not going all Brock on me. Wait. Why would he be acting like Brock? As I pondered this thought, I felt my face burning up in embarrassment. No. That couldn't be it. Ash would never think of me that way. He was just shocked that I was in a dress.

I didn't have much time to ponder that thought, though, the ringing doorbell, causing me to jump. It was amazing how something as common as a doorbell could be shocking for me to hear. Even Ash looked up, curious as to what I would do next. Turning on my heel, I walked to the door and opened it to reveal Andrew.

"Hi, Misty," he greeted me, handing me a daisy. "You ready for our date?"

"Yeah. I need to grab my purse, though. Can I meet you in the car?"

"Yeah sure thing. I'm a little early anyway," he told me before he walked back to his car to wait for me.

Closing the door behind him, I ran back into the family room to grab my coat and purse. As I walked through the hallway, though, I caught sight of myself in the mirror, suddenly experiencing all these feelings of self-doubt. As I glanced at my dress, I picked up the baby blue fabric and twirled around to see how it looked. Was I trying to hard to impress him by wearing a dress? I mean, they were supposed to like you for you, right? But it didn't hurt to dress up a bit. But did I even look pretty in it?

"Misty what's wrong?" I heard Ash ask me. Ash! He had been so quiet I had forgotten he was here.

"Do I look okay?" I asked him, ignoring his question.

He was my best friend and I knew he would tell me the truth no matter what. In fact, if it looked as bad as I suddenly thought it did, he would relish in being able to tell me how bad it looked, saying something like how hard I was trying to look pretty when I would always be a scrawny runt.

He seemed to pause for a second as he took in my question. I bet he was thinking of some snide remark. But instead of a smirk that I would expect in normal instances, he smiled at me with a famous lopsided grin. "You look really pretty Misty." I think I even saw a tint of red spread across his cheeks.

And as odd as it was to me, it only took his words to cause me to change my mind about how I felt about the dress. I knew he wouldn't lie to me, so I had to believe it myself.

"Thanks, Ash," I beamed. I knew I was lucky to have a friend like him. "I've got to go, though," I reminded him as I grabbed my purse and coat from the family room.

"Have fun," he called before I slipped out the door. I heard him say something else, but I was already out the door before I could ask him what it was.

I would ask him the next time I saw him.


	2. Ash To the Rescue!

MISTY: 22

ASH: 21

"Hello? Anyone home?" Ash yelled, as he let himself into my apartment as usual. I had considered locking the door, but I was starting to get used to his unexpected arrivals. Kept me on my toes, always having to guess when he might show up.

"Hey Ash," I greeted him as I walked into the hallway dressed in my robe with my hair a mess. "Would it be okay if you came back tomorrow. Today's not a really good day."

"Brock told me what happened Misty," he frowned. I guess he knew everything so now there was no way he was going to go away "But don't worry. I'm here to cheer you up."

"Oh?" Ash Ketchum was here to cheer me up? What an honor.

"Yep! I bought ice cream," he announced holding up the grocery bag I had missed before. "I wasn't sure what you liked so I got Vanilla, Cookie-Dough and Mint Chocolate Chip."

"Ash," I sighed. "Those are YOUR favorites." Well I guess it was the thought that counted, right?

"I know," he beamed. "I also brought _Titanic, Valentines Day_ and some movie called _Enchanted_." Wait. Hold the phone. Ash Ketchum had gone and gotten me chick flick movies? Was I dreaming?

"From your personal collection?" I smirked.

"No!" he shouted in his defense. "I borrowed them from Brock and Suzie."

"Uh huh," I laughed. "Sure you did. It's okay Ash. We're all friends here." Man did I love teasing him.

"I can you leave you know? I don't have to stay here and cheer you up. I can just let you dwindle away in your own self-pity."

"I'm sorry," I apologized sweetly. He ALWAYS forgave me. "I'm very honored by your kind gesture to cheer me up."

"That's more like it," he replied. "Now I'm hungry and this ice cream looks really good." Typical Ash only focused on food.

We served ourselves some ice cream, mixing the different flavors and adding some chocolate syrup and whip cream. Before we even made it the short distance to the family room, Ash began eating his ice cream. I never understood how he could eat so much without getting sick, or how he managed to stay in shape with all the junk food he ate.

"What would you like to watch? In honor of cheering you up, I'll let you pick without arguing. Feel special," he told me an air of pompousness in his voice.

"Lucky me," I rolled my eyes. "How about _Enchanted_? I heard it's supposed to be good."

"Like I said," he repeated. "your choice." He stood up and took the DVD out of the case, putting it into the player and pushing play before he sat back down. I had figured out of the movies he had brought, this one was probably the least chick-flicky. But I could be wrong.

Sitting together on the couch, Ash and I watched the movie and enjoyed the ice cream he had brought, helping ourselves to seconds and thirds-or fourths in Ash's case. The movie was actually a lot better than I had expected, even causing Ash to laugh a few times.

"I've always wondered that, too!" he exclaimed, referring to the male character's comment about the singing in the park. "How does everyone know the words AND the dance moves without any practice? They just randomly break out into song at the drop of a hat." I could tell this concept was really hard for him to wrap his head around.

"It's called a musical, Ash." I laughed. "It's just that way because."

Satisfied with my answer, he continued watching the movie. As much as I had really wanted to be alone tonight, I was glad he had come over and forced me to spend time with him. I didn't feel so lonely and it only proved how great of friends I had.

With our bowls licked clean, the movie continued on and I found myself leaning my head on his shoulder, using it as a pillow. Since we were such good friends, this never bothered him or freaked him out. I know most people would see this as cuddling and cry couple, but that's not the way it was.

"This guy is really dumb if he thinks a T.V. is a magic mirror," Ash snorted.

"You know?" I smiled wickedly. "You and him have a lot in common?"

"What exactly does that mean?" he asked.

"You're both really dense."

He just ignored me and frowned pretending to be watching the movie. I just laughed as I rested my head back on his shoulder, knowing I had won this argument since he hadn't actually denied being dense. As we continued to watch the rest of the movie, we both sat in silence, not really saying much of anything. And oddly enough, I was okay with the silence. It was actually really comforting. When the movie was over, the credits started rolling, but we just sat there neither one wanting to be the first to move.

Ash was the first to break the silence. "I'm really sorry, Mist," he frowned in sympathy.

"About what?" I asked, moving my head off his shoulder so I could see him clearly.

"About Andrew," he clarified.

"Oh." I looked at the ground avoiding his eyes. I hadn't thought about Andrew all night, but now at the mention of his name, I was beginning to remember why Ash had come over in the first place. I really tried, but I felt little tears escape my eyes and roll down my face.

"Don't cry, Mist," he pleaded, wrapping his arms around me in a hug. "I'm here if you want to talk about it."

"It's just...I can't believe he cheated on me. Was I never good enough for him? I just don't understand what I did wrong," I rambled.

"Misty, you did nothing wrong, you hear me? _Nothing_. He was an idiot who couldn't see how lucky he was. I assure you that you deserve a lot better than him."

"But I-"

"Misty, it's going to be okay. I promise you," he assured me. And I believed him. "And if you want, for a limited time and a limited time only, I'm offering Pikachu's Thunderbolt services free of charge. Well...free of charge for you that is."

"What exactly are you talking about?" I asked rather confused. I didn't get his dumb pun.

"Just that if you want, Pikachu would gladly show Andrew how he feels about what he did to his Pikachu-Pi," he suggested, a mischievous grin on his face. "It's your call, though."

"Maybe later," I shrugged. For once I wasn't in the mood for inflicting pain on people, but I would have that idea in the back of my mind. "Let's watch another movie."

The next movie we decided to watch was _Valentine's Day_ since we didn't have enough time to watch all of _Titanic_. Although much more of a chick flick, I still enjoyed it despite Ash's whining of how dumb the whole holiday was.

Since I hadn't seen this movie before, I was not expecting the whole plot line of the guy-ironically also in _Enchanted_-who was cheating on his girlfriend. Even though I knew it was just a movie, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain as I found myself able to relate to how the character was feeling. I think Ash could sense my uneasiness, too because at that point, he squeezed my hand in a comforting way, reminding me that he was here if I needed to cry some more. It was all a bit overwhelming if you ask me. Sometime during the movie, though, I must have fallen asleep because the last thing I remember was the little boy running away to get his flowers.

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself curled up and leaning against Ash while he slept soundly in the corner of the couch. Looking at his sleeping face, I smiled as I remembered the events of the previous night that had placed him here. How he had showed up uninvited with ice cream and movies just to cheer me up. Despite just wanting to be alone, I was glad he showed up because I couldn't have asked for a better night.


	3. Why Do I Care?

The movie finished with some happy tune about how some girl felt like today was a fairytale. I didn't really care, though, not even bothering to hit stop. It was almost midnight and I was exhausted, barely able to keep my eyes open. I was about to get up and move when I felt a weight on my shoulder. Looking over, I saw Misty leaning against my shoulder fast asleep. She looked really peaceful while she slept, some locks of her orange hair falling in her face. As I brushed them out of the way, I remembered why I had come here in the first place. And just the thought of it made my blood boil as Brock's words from our phone call rang through my head

_Andrew cheated on her._

I didn't believe him at first, finding it shocking that anyone would ever cheat on Misty. She was everything a guy could ever want: pretty, smart, caring, loves Pokemon and her own person. I doubt there was a girl out there that could match her, but apparently Andrew had thought differently. Andrew. I wanted to beat him up and make him feel pain for what he had done to Misty. I had never seen her this upset before, and it was all because of him.

_She's a mess, Ash. I tried to talk to her, but you know how she can be. You're the only one she'll talk to._

Even though, I had previous plans, I canceled them knowing that Misty needed me a lot more. After I hung up with Brock, I ran next door and asked my neighbor Allie if I could borrow some chick flicks. She had kindly lent me some, but not without giving me a strange look. After that embarrassment, I ran to the store and bought some ice cream. When I got to Misty's apartment and saw he for the first time, my heart fell. She was dressed in her P.J.s and a robe, her hair falling out of her ponytail and her eyes red from what I presumed crying. This only confirmed my thoughts that, despite her telling me to come back another time, she needed me more than she thought.

I had tried to avoid the topic of what had occurred until Misty chose to talk about it herself, but after the first movie I knew I couldn't wait anymore. When I had told her I was sorry for what happened, that's when I saw what I never thought I would ever see in Misty: a broken heart. Who did this guy think he was going and breaking her heart like that? He had crushed her in ways I never thought imaginable. The strongest girl I had ever known had broken down and cried on my shoulder. Misty never cried, let alone over a boy.

_Was I never good enough for him? I just don't understand what I did wrong._

Those words alone had me ready to rush out the door to hunt him down and kill him. It took a lot for me to hide my anger from Misty, but I was somehow able to do it. How could she not think she was good enough? She was perfect, and like I said, anyone would be lucky to have her. The one guy who was supposed to make her feel great about herself had reduced her to the lowest self-esteem I had ever seen in her. Misty never doubted if she was good enough for anything, nor did she question if she was wrong. In fact, she would argue with you that she was both good enough and right about whatever it was. But here she was asking me of all people if she had been good enough. Just as surprising, she even turned down my offer to have Pikachu thunderbolt him. I assure if it was me, she would have said yes, but that's beside the point. As I tried to comfort her, not really knowing what to do, I could only wonder, _what had he done to my Misty?_

_Do I look okay? _

She had asked me that the day she went out on her first date with Andrew. Before that he had greeted her at the door with a daisy. As I watched her talk to him at the door, I couldn't help but ponder if Andrew knew Misty hated daisys as much as she hated lilies and violets. The obvious reason being that they only reminded her of her sisters. If he had known her better, or had asked someone like me, he would have found out that Misty's favorite flower was a Sunflower. When I took a good look at her for the first time after she had asked me if she looked okay, there was no doubt in my mind how I felt. She looked beautiful, and I was envious of Andrew. She had thanked me before she rushed out the door, completely missing my comment of how Andrew was one lucky guy. I mean he had the one thing in life that I had always wanted, but knew I could never have. But in the end, he had just thrown it away for something he thought was better. It just disgusted me.

If she was mine, I would never hurt her like he had. I'd always be happy because I would always know how lucky I was to have her. I'd buy her a million sunflowers if she wanted and tell her she looked beautiful and that nobody else but her was good enough for me. And if she wanted, we could do this every night because I didn't care what we did as long as she was happy. I'd do anything so long as I never had to see her hurt like this again.

Despite knowing that I would do all those things for her, I still didn't understand what it meant about my relationship with Misty. We had always been close and that's stuff best friends do, right? But why had I considered Andrew lucky because he had Misty? I had her as my friend, and I knew she wouldn't go away. But why was I envious of the specific relationship he had with Misty? To have always cared that Andrew had the one thing with Misty I knew I never could? Pulling out my phone, I quickly texted Brock, the only one besides Misty who could understand how I was feeling.

* * *

><p>12:00AM<p>

**_God, Brock. He had it all and he just threw it away_**.

* * *

><p>FROM: BROCK<p>

12:01 AM

**_You love her, don't you?  
><em>**

* * *

><p>12:03 AM<p>

**_Why is that so hard for me to say? _**

* * *

><p>FROM: BROCK<p>

12:03 AM

_**Because you're Ash and she's Misty. **_

* * *

><p>12:04 AM<p>

**_That makes no sense_**.

* * *

><p>FROM: BROCK<p>

12:05 AM

**_I think it does. Figure it out. I'm going to bed. _**

* * *

><p>I had no idea what Brock was talking about and as I set aside my phone and curled up in the corner of the couch, I had no sudden epiphanies of understanding. Plus, it was way too late for my brain to even try and understand the meaning behind the text. All I wanted to do was never leave the moment I was in now with Misty curled up next to me, her warm breath tickling the skin on my arm as she snored lightly. And as my eyes fluttered shut and I slowly drifted off to sleep, I pulled her close knowing that no matter what, I would always be there for her.<p> 


	4. A Gift From a Friend

"Hey! Wait! Give me that!" I heard my friend yell as he barreled through my apartment door. What in the world was he up to now?

"What in the world is going on?" I asked him as I walked into the hallway. When I stepped into the hallway, though, I felt like I was going to explode.

"ASH!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the whole apartment.

The floors that I had spent the whole morning cleaning were now covered with muddy footprints and paw prints. Wait. Paw prints? Why were there paw prints on my floor? At a closer examination, I concluded that they did not belong to Pikachu and I was 99.9% sure that Ash's did not have paws. That boy could surprise me, though, so who knew?

"Yeah, Mist?" he asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his head with his hand. He knew he was in trouble when he did that.

"Explain!" I demanded, gesturing to the muddy mess of footprints and unknown paw prints.

"Well you see..." he began, but was quickly interrupted as a baby Growlithe came bounding into the hallway stopping at Ash's feet, his famous hat dangling from its mouth and its tail going a mile a minute. "Oh, there you are. You got me in big trouble."

Growlithe just tilted its head, trying to understand what Ash was saying to it. Setting Ash's hat in front of him, it backed up a bit before it lowered itself to a pouncing position, ready to play fetch. I just stood there, my arms folded, glancing between him and the energized puppy.

"Is this yours?" I asked.

"Oh, no," he replied, kneeling down to pick up his hat, "It's for you."

"For me?"

"You don't remember?" he frowned.

Now Growlithe was nudging his head against Ash's leg, trying to get him to play with it. I would admit it was really cute.

"No."

His frown quickly turned into a smile as he picked the puppy up and held it in his arms. "I heard you talking to Gary the other day about how you would love to have one of Arcanine's puppies. I thought I would get you one as kind of a thank you for being my friend and as an apology for always barging into your apartment."

Oh...yeah. Now I remembered. Gary had called the other day to talk about some research he had been doing on water Pokemon. When were done talking, he showed me one of Arcanine's puppies, and being a sucker for cute things, I awed and fussed over how cute the little puppies were. Somewhere in my daze I must have mentioned wanting one. Of course this had to be the one time Ash had actually listened to what I had said. Go figure.

He stared at me as he waited for me to say something. The puppy in his arms was also staring at me with its cute adorable face, making it almost irresistible to ignore. Sighing in defeat, I walked over to Ash and plucked the puppy from his arms as it gave me a big, wet, slobbery kiss.

"Thanks Ash. That was really nice of you to think of me like that."

"You better take it. I had to help Gary all day for that thing. You know how much he 'needed' me to do?" he complained. Never the less, it was really sweet of him.

I simply smiled at him. "It is really cute," I cooed, petting it behind the ears. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy." Picking up my puppy, we walked into the family room where he began explaining how he had this whole plan about how he was going to give Growlithe to me. "I had Brock help me groom him. We even gave him a big red bow, but while I was waiting for Gary to drop off his Pokeball at my mom's, he started digging in her garden. I was so afraid my mom would kill me when she found out, that I just grabbed him and got out of there. When I finally got here, he stole my hat while I was trying to clean him off and started running through your apartment."

It was kind of hard not to laugh at the misery the little puppy had put him through, but it still meant a lot to me that he would go through all that trouble to try and create this big gesture of giving me the Growlithe.

After Ash sat down on the couch, I placed Growlithe between us. "So why did you pick this one?"

"Oh, that's easy. I picked this one because it was the runt," he smirked, petting the puppy behind its ears. "Plus it kept following me around when I was at the lab. Kind of like someone else I know." At this his smirked turned into a smile as he glanced at my very ticked off face. I was not amused with at his reasons for picking the Growlithe that he did. I swear, no matter what, it was always a joke with him.

"Is that the ONLY reason you picked him?" I sneered.

"No. He just reminded me a lot of you," he explained avoiding my eyes as he petted the puppy. Next I heard a small chuckle escape his mouth. "Plus, at the lab he tried to attack all the bug Pokemon. He'll make a good guard dog against them for you."

"I like him even more," I smiled, petting him so more.

"Ha ha. Yeah, I'm sure." He watched the puppy as it curled up into my lap, emitting a big yawn before it closed its eyes to take a nap. Smiling at the puppy, his eyes flicked back to me "So, by the way, Gary already gave him a name."

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrow at him, not totally believing what he had said. I couldn't wait to find out what creative name Gary had bestowed on my Growlithe.

"Yeah. It's on a little tag on his collar. Gary named him once he found out I was giving it to you."

Glancing down at the puppy's neck, I saw the blue color that had gone completely unnoticed before. At the end of it was a tag in the shape of a flame that said, RED.

"RED?"

"Yep! That's what Gary and I have been calling him, so he already thinks it's his name."

They had planned this the entire time. They were going to give me this cute, adorable puppy, but secretly get it convinced that its name was the name I dreaded the most. Ash knew how much I loved baby pokemon and would be unable to give it back once I got attached. And trust me, I was attached. Despite my anger at them for having named my pet, there was one thing I couldn't wrap my head around. Why had Ash gone through all that trouble to get me a Growlithe from Gary of people? The one person he hated most and would rather die than help him in his lab for a day.

"Hey Ash?"

"Hmm?" He answered, observing the sleeping puppy.

"Why did you give me Red?" I did choke on the name a bit, but I guess I could get used to it.

He glanced at me looking a bit confused. "I told you, remember? It's a thank you and-"

"Yeah, but Ash, you HATE Gary. You would never do anything for him. And since when have you ever listened to know what I wanted? You've never cared about that stuff before. So what's the real reason?"

When I told him this, I saw what I thought to be hurt in his eyes. It actually made me sad to see him hurt. "Misty, I've always cared about that stuff." He quickly looked down at his hands, tints of red appearing on his cheeks. It was the same thing he had done when I had asked him how I looked before I had went on my first date with Andrew. It had to mean something, right? "It's Andrew who never did."

"What?" How did Andrew have anything to do with this? I hadn't thought about him since we broke up almost a month ago. But when I had dated him, it had been nice. "Andrew cared about me."

"Get real, Misty," he scoffed, anger flashing in his eyes. "You dated him for almost a year and he barely knew anything about you. And then what he did to you in the end? Yeah, I'd say he _really_ cared about you."

"What are you trying to say?" I snapped. I don't know why I was getting defensive about Andrew, but I was.

At this, he stood up and started yelling at me. "God, don't you see Mist? He never knew how lucky he was! He had everything I wanted and he threw it away."

Wait. "What you wanted?"

He went silent and his face quickly paled, his once moving arms falling to his side. "I-I..."

"Ash, what's this all about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

Sighing, he plopped back down on the couch, pulling his hat over his eyes. "Look, Misty. When I came over that night to cheer you up, I wanted to kill him for what he had done to you. I'd never seen you so...so heartbroken like that before. All I could think about was that if it had been me, I would never hurt you like that because I'd always be happy knowing how lucky I am to have you. And that if you wanted, I'd do anything so long as I never had to see you hurt like that again. I didn't know what I was feeling that night, but when I texted Brock, he made me admit what I had found so hard to say."

"And what was that?"

"I'm in love with my best friend."

It got so quiet in that room that you could actually hear a pin drop or, in this case, the beating of my heart as it sped out of control. He loved me. As I listened to the beating of my heart, images flashed through my brain of Ash blushing when he told me I looked pretty, of him dropping everything to come hang out with me when Andrew canceled on me. The way he always got jealous when I was spending too much time with Andrew or the way he would always remind me of how I hated daisies when Andrew would give me one. Him standing in my hallway with ice cream and movies, not taking no for an answer. And finally, the way I felt leaning against his shoulder and waking up with his arms around me.

I had never felt that way with Andrew, but I had always assumed it was because Ash and I were really close friends. Maybe all this time, we were just a lot closer than we thought. It was then I realized that I had always bypassed the one guy who never failed me for a million others who did.

As I flicked my eyes from my lap to where Ash was sitting, I saw him standing up to leave. "Wait!" He slowly sat back down and turned around to look at me, hesitation in his face. Leaning forward, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close, squishing Red between us. "Thank you for always being there."

At first he didn't know how to respond, but then I felt him relax as he placed his arms around me and returned the hug. "No problem," he whispered.

Leaning back, I placed my hands on his shoulders and met his eyes. "I don't know what you could call our relationship, nor do I know how to explain my feelings, but I think that maybe you and I are meant to be more than best friends. And if you're willing to hang in there with me, I think maybe we can figure it out."

It wasn't exactly a confession that I loved him back, but it was the truth. Maybe it would turn out to be one of those cases where I just never was able to see what was in front of my eyes. But as long as I had him there with me to figure it out, I knew I would be okay.


End file.
